Standing On The Rooftops
by StandingOnTheRooftops
Summary: Sequel to Everyone Scream Your Heart Out. Duo's about to marry Quatre's sister when everything falls apart. Support pairings are 1xR, 3xCB, 5xSP. COMPLETE!
1. Mrs Duo Maxwell

_**Standing On The Rooftops**_**, ****sequel to Everyone Scream Your Heart Out**

**For those of you who haven't read ESYHO, Duo's with Quatre's sister, Cara. That's pretty much all you need to know, because the story pretty much explains itself. Mostly. And set about three years after ESYHO.**

**Ah... there will be a little angst later on... and the title will actually fit the story this time. You'll see later.**

**And yes, I know that the name of this fic is the same as my name. I know.**

**And yes, for those of you who haven't gotten it... I'm a huge, *huge* fan of Rooftops, the most awesomest song ever... by LostProphets. Go to Yahoo Music and check out the video... I love this song. And If I ever make a third sequel (wouldn't that be a 'threequel'?) I think I'll keep with the whole Rooftops lyrics thing.**

**Oh, and I've hired Ocean and his buddies to steal the G-boys for me. I can't wait to see how he does it...**

**Anyway... on with the show.**

*********

**'It seems my life is going to change.**

**I close my eyes, begin to pray...'**

**Arms Wide Open, Creed**

*****

_Chapter One_

_Mrs. Duo Maxwell_

Cara Winner woke up contented. She knew immediately that she was not in her own bed, or in her own house. But she was home. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder, her body turned towards his. Her arm was draped possessively over his bare chest, and his hand held hers in sleep, the other resting against the small of her back, dangerously close to her bottom. As usual, his feet were sprawled across the bed, his leg over hers. She found it amusing.

How many times had she woken up just like this? In this exact same position over the last three years? How many nights had she fallen asleep beside him after a long bout of passionate lovemaking? How many nights had she fallen asleep against him, just holding him all night long?

Too many to count. Cara closed her eyes, willed herself to go back to sleep. It was the first day of her first vacation in three years, but her internal alarm clock was still set for very early. Occupational hazard, she guessed, trying to lull herself to sleep with the sound of his breathing, of his heartbeat. It calmed her most of the time, like her own personal lullaby, but this morning, it was just another pretty song. She sighed. She didn't want to get up. She had another week of blissful nothingness, and then she would be married.

She snuggled closer to him, was pleased when his arm tightened around her, his unconsious way of telling her to be still. She smiled. Within weeks of knowing each other, they'd fallen into bed, entering an affair of lust and desire and friendship. After one month of sleeping together, she'd invited him to move in with her back on Luna Colony. There, they'd toiled for one whole year, she at the hospital and him in school, training to be a nurse. And then, together, they'd moved back to Earth and started a private practice, specializing in pediatrics. It had been tough, and at times she'd doubted that they'd last. But they had. They'd had low moments, like all couples, but they were happier for them. It took her around one week of living with him full time to realize she actually loved him with a forever kind of love. It had taken her another three months for her to overcome her insecurities and admit it to him. It had taken him another year almost to admit it to her in so many words. And it had taken her almost two more years to get up the nerve to ask him to take the next step.

But he'd beat her too it. He'd proposed on Valentine's Day by hiding her ring in the single yellow rose he'd given her. It was so simple, the way he'd asked. He'd nearly fumbled his words. She'd agreed passionately, so happy and so in love. So now here they were in June. One more week, and she would no longer be Cara Winner. One more week and she would forever be Mrs. Duo Maxwell.

Oh dear, here came the nausea again. She tore away from Duo, scrambled to the bathroom. Damn virus. For two weeks now, she'd been horribly sick. And damn, if it hadn't affected her appetite, as well. She'd been scarfing down two to three bananas a day... and she hated bananas.

Oh, hell, she thought, as she wretched over the toilet. She could hear Duo getting up in the bedroom. He'd be in here in seconds to hold back her hair, just like he always did. Hell... when was Sally going to get here? This wasn't any normal virus. She'd had enough sisters come down with this 'virus' to know it when she saw it... so why was it just hitting her now. And damn it... she was a doctor after all... wasn't she? She was the damn pediatritian!

She could really use Sally's second opinion.

tbc......


	2. Wedding Plans

**'When I'm losing my control,**

**The city spins around,**

**You're the only one who knows,**

**You slow it down...'**

**Look After You, The Fray**

_Chapter Two_

_Wedding Plans_

Two days into Cara's vacation, Dorothy Catalonia Winner, seven months along with her first child, arrived from a business meeting with the intention of taking Cara to pick out a wedding dress. Cara had demured as best she could, saying that they didn't want a real wedding, but a little ceremony with friends in the parlor of the Winner Mansion. Dorothy had paled. Her own wedding had been a three day feast.

Cara tried to get out of it, complaining that less than a week was not enough time to plan even a small wedding. Dorothy had a gleam come into her eyes, and had said very cryptically, "We'll see,"

Before the day had even begun, Dorothy had dragged Cara through three different stores in search of the perfect gown. Cara was sick for the first hour or so... literally... but Dorothy kept dragging her along. After hours and hours and hours of exhaustive searching, Cara and Dorothy finally agreed.

It was a simple dress of snow white gauze, calf-lenght and strapless. Paired with plain white high-heel sandles and Cara's heirloom diamonds, Cara would be the picture perfect late spring/early summer bride.

Then, Dorothy had thrown Cara head-long into planning the actually ceremony, even dragging Duo into it, though he beat a hasty retreat, like all husbands to be.

It too two days for the small ceremony to be planned out to Dorothy's expectations. Dorothy would be Cara's Matron of Honor, and the elusive Sally Po, arriving with her husband later that week, would be the maid of honor. Duo had attempted to lure in Hiro to be his best man, but the former 'perfect soldier' would be unavailable the day of the wedding to Duo's evident disappointment, so Cara's brother and Dorothy's husband, Quatre, was brought in instead.

For Cara, this was a quiet little miracle. For nearly a year, Quatre had remained in opposition to Cara and Duo's relationship. But after discovering that the two's feelings ran deeper than anyone had every thought, her brother had accepted it, and finally, found peace with it, even going as far as rekindling his old comrade-in-arms relationship with Duo. Cara had never understood Quatre's aversion to her and Duo's relationship. The only grounds he had was the way he found out about it.

Admittedly, finding your best friend and your sister tousled, naked, and in bed wasn't the best way to find out. But besides that, Quatre's stubbornness over accepting the fact was quite uncalled for, and quite an over-reaction. Cara and Duo were both mature, consenting adults. Well... one out of three wasn't bad.

At the time, Duo had been only about three months younger than Cara- both a mere eighteen years old. And no one who really knew Duo could call him mature and keep a straight face. Duo was a child at heart, but Cara found his silliness and happy-go-lucky personality intriguing, especially considering the rough life he'd had. She herself was far from being so easy to deal with, she knew. Her trials in life had been the opposite of his, but just as grueling. He'd taken lives, while she fought to save them. But his past didn't matter now. He'd done what he had to do, and now Cara understood that.

She loved her brother, but there had always been a little rift there. Cara hadn't understood about why her brother fought and killed so much, while she labored for days without sleeping trying to save the lives of people who'd been injured by machines just like his. But Duo had opened her eyes. He hadn't been trying to, but he had. She'd realized that even bad things, if done for the right reasons, were still bad and wrong. But she'd accepted it. She knew that for the greater good, for the peace they now enjoyed, there had to be sacrifices made. And every time she saw that shadow behind Duo's bright amethyst eyes, she knew that he, too, had made his sacrifices.

There were nights when he had nightmares so startling, so horrid that she'd have to spend half the night just holding him close, whispering that it would be alright, that things were better now. He was caught up between a million different people inside of him. He could have turned out any one of them, but he'd turned out a mesh of all of them. And she knew every single side, every facet of his personality, like it was a diamond she'd been staring at.

She knew his kind, sweet, romantic side- the side he had shown on that Valentine's Day. She knew his funny, charming, child-like side- the side he showed every day at their little clinic, making parents and children alike feel at ease. She knew his 'ditz' side as she called it- the side that came out whenever he did something utterly stupid or brainless... which was pretty often, or when he honestly made a mistake; to him, it was the same thing, though she tried to point out the differences. She knew his cold, hard side- a side she rarely glimpsed anymore, a side that sometimes she feared. She knew him when he was weak, crying, clinging to her in the middle of the night as the memories of the dreadful things he'd done came back to haunt him. She knew him when he was passionate, vibrant, showing her exactly how much he loved her. She knew his smart, intellectual side, and his calculating, methodical side. She knew every aspect of him, and she loved them all.


	3. Our Yesterdays

**'So here I am with my thoughts of you,**

**And this world I've left for me...'**

**Leave The Memories Alone, Fuel**

Chapter Three

Our Yesterdays

It was two days before the wedding, and neighter bride nor groom felt like anything bad could happen. They were on top of the world.

Cara was set to see Sally privately as soon as the other doctor's shuttle set down, and then even more doubts could be put to rest before the wedding. Dorothy was happy as a clam with her self-given role as wedding planner, and Cara and Duo were more than happy to just sit back and appease Cara's sister in law and Duo's future sister in law. Trowa had even made an appearance, a rare sight indeed with Catherine right by his side. The two were fairly glowing, having only recently come to the conclusion that they indeed loved each other deeply. With Rashid in his usual role as nursemaid for Dorothy and Quatre's first born, Rashad, life at the Winner mansion was, well, far from normal and very far from peaceful... but it suited all of the occupants.

The soon to be wedded couple was taking advantage of a lull, a peaceful break in the hectic pace of life, to cuddle on the couch and exchange soft words and sweet kisses. In the past day or so, it seemed like Cara's morning sickness was dwindling down, and so everything was going great. Cara lay lightly atop her fiance' kissing every inch of skin she could reach with her lips, and caressing the rest with her fingertips.

Nothing more was needed. After so many years together, they'd fallen into this sweet 'cuddle' stage. They were past the "can't keep my hands off you" stage, past the phase where every single meeting of skin or lips turned into all out sex. Caresses and kisses were enough to communicate mutal love and devotion. Cara could remember all the evenings spent simply cuddling with her lover. A simple touch was enough to suffice them. No, their physical love did not dimish or lack any, but there were other aspects to their relationship, that were just as important.

The vid phone ringing interupted their cuddle time. Cara leaned back, sitting up, with a rueful smile as Duo went to the wall unit of their suite. He smoothed down a hand over a few wispy fly-aways that had escaped during their tender moment. Cara rose to stand beside him as the communication connected. The brown haired lady before them seemed out-of-sorts.

Duo frowned at the obviously upset Commander in Chief of the Preventers.

"Lady?" He questioned. It was rare for Lady Une to be less than perfectly composed. Even rarer to see her with tear tracts on her face, and eyes rimmed with red.

"Zero Two," she said, her voice thick, but clipped and forced into a professional tone.

"What's wrong, Commander?" Duo asked. He wasn't a Preventer anymore, and hadn't been for very long anyways, but he still held respect for the formidable woman.

"The Assembly's Conference on Peace this afternoon was bombed by an unknown source. We have several suspects in custody."

Duo nodded. "Alright. What does this have to do with me? Or were you trying for Quatre, because he's..."

"Any of you would suffice. Zero Two, I regret to inform you that Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian and Pilot Zero One are... among the casualties. I am sorry but..."

Duo didn't hear the rest of her words. 'Among the casualties' and 'Zero One' were the only things that stuck in his mind as the world tilted on it's axis and spun. A half thought that this was some kind of joke popped in his mind, but disappeared. Une didn't cry. Une wouldn't pull a sick joke like this. This was real.

Hiro.... was dead.


	4. On The Rooftop

**'Figures out... figures out...**

**Narrow line... can't decide**

**Everything short of suicide,**

**Never hurts, nearly works...'**

**Little House, The Fray**

Chapter Four

On the Rooftop

Cara had tried to give him the comfort he'd needed, but he simply wouldn't let her in. Knowing that eventually he would come around, she'd left in search of her brother- someone she hopefully could help comfort.

Later that day, she sat alone in the library. It had once been her haven, the quiet so blissful, so peaceful. But now, after years with Duo and his need to constantly talk, the silence was overwhelming, miserable. She'd like to romantically think that she'd somehow changed him. Indeed, everyone said he was much calmer now. But she knew that he'd changed her in a million little ways. She'd once valued silence. It had been her friend, her comfort. But now, she couldn't make it through a day without Duo beside her. And it tore her to peices inside to know that he was hurting, greiving, and that he wouldn't let her in. Did his feelings of friendship towards Hiro Yuy, the perfect soldier, run so deep that he would refuse even her, who'd wiped his tears away, who'd helped him up every time he stumbled during his trek to make a life for himself?

And now... with him like this, how could she tell him? She talked to Sally justa few hours ago. The doctor had been thorough. And her prognosis was just as Cara had thought...

"Cara!"

Her musings were interrupted by her brother's voice. The urgency in it had her jumping up, dashing headlong out into the hallway.

"Quatre?"

"Duo,,," he panted, out of breath.

"What? What about Duo?" She was worried now. What was wrong? What was going on? Quatre never reacted like this to anything.

"Cara, oh Allah, he's up on the roof!"

~~~~~{*}~~~~~

"Duo? Duo?"

He heard his name being called from back inside. It was Quatre's voice, worried and hesitant.

"Duo? Where are you?"

He never made a sound, never even turned around. He could tell right when Quatre spotted him. The gasp, the clank of a window being throwed open.

"DUO?!? What are you doing?"

He never answered. He just stood there, contemplating the horizon. It was five stories in the air, nothing but the hard, unforgiving sand below. And up here, nothing but wind gusting, tugging at his shirt, his pants, pulling his braided lengthof hair.

"Duo..." Quatre's voice was even and level. One might say calm, if they didn't know the softspoken Arabian. "Duo... please... don't... whatever you're thinking... don't."

Duo thought, but didn't answer. Life was useless. You could try so hard to turn yourself around, and it could all be taken from you. Hiro hadn't been a good guy... but he hadn't deserved to die. Releena, she didn't either; she'd never harmed a single thing in her life.

It was useless. Hiro had tried for years, turning life around, creating a decent and respectable living loving only one woman, only one person. And it had all been taken away.

Life was pointless.

He knew that Quatre had left, running. Probably to find Trowa and Wufei, see if they could reason with him. Cara was angry with him. She didn't care- was probably a long way away by now. He'd snapped at her with pure hate and anger- the very first time ever he'd done so in the years of their relationship, and she'd left. Sure, she'd tried to help him, but he'd pushed her away... and she went willingly. She'd been angry that he wouldn't let her in.

He knew he was hard on her sometimes. But she had no idea how much he tried to hide from her. She'd be more than angry... she'd hate him if she truely knew him. Funny, how that was. Most of the time, it seemed like she was the only person who truly knew him. She was bright, sweet, a beacon of hope. He knew why Hiro had taken so long with Releena. If any of the women knew what they really were, what hope was there?

Cara was his life. From the first moment he'd held her. No, even before then. From the first moment she'd smiled at him. At first, he'd been curious. She was a beautiful woman, why shouldn't he have been? Then, he'd been infatuated. She was a complexity all her own. She had her demons, some worse than others, but she held her own. Then, he began unraveling her, glimpsing her soul, and he'd begun to fall. He probably started to slid the first time he'd kissed her. Slow, sweet. With the smell of iodine and brownies in the air. His slip turned into a stumble the first time they'd made love, with more passion than either had expected. Again he stumbled the morning after, as they held each other in the warm water of their bath. Every little thing she did made him slide more towards that razor edge. He didn't know how long he'd loved her, but he remembered the exact moment he'd realized it. April fifteenth two years ago, when he'd seen her in her grubby old yard-work clothes, holding the next-door neighbors little girl as she cried about tripping on the sidewalk. The image had transfixed him. He stood in the doorway of their little house, just staring at that picture. Cara would make such a great mother, he'd thought; he wanted to be the father to those children. And it had hit him, right then and there. He loved Cara. And he would never get over her.

They had just taken things a day at a time, had never given much thought to some days or 'whens'. The future was just that. And it was unknown. Until then, when he knew that he loved her. And that he wanted to make her a mother, to see her holding their child like that. Maybe a little Cara, with gold hair and superbly blue eyes? Or a mini Duo, with chestnut hair and amethyst eyes? Or someoneesle entirely? What if they had Duo's eyes, and Cara's lustrous hair? Or her elegance and grace coupled with his sense of humor? Would they have Cara's honor and stubbornness or his happy-go-lucky charm?

All the possibilities, all those little what ifs, somedays, came flying right at him. And it had still taken him two years to get up the courage to ask her to be his wife.

But those didn't matter now. She would hate him. God knew, he hated himself. If there was no hope for someone like Hiro in the world? What would happen to him? Murphey's law popped in his mind, but he pushed it back.

Whatever bad that could happen... had happened. The only thing left now was to just end it all. He took a single step closer to the edge.

Cara hated him. And she'd hate him even more for this. She'd see it as cowardice. Or maybe not. Maybe it'd be worse. She'd see it as weak. And she'd know that she had wasted her time. She was a doctor. She healed physical wounds for a living. But for three years, her love in life had been healing his emotional, mental ones. How would she take the fact that she'd failed?

He took another step closer. She hated failing. He took another. How simple it was to convince himself that this was the best.. no... the only path. His feet were at the edge. One more step... and it would be over. No more pain. No more death. No more failure. No more nothing. No more Duo.

"Duo... please..."

This time it wasn't Quatre. Cara was behind him. He spared a glance over his shoulder. She was pale, shaking. Tears were falling down her cheeks, splashing on the blue cotton T-shirt she wore. She was half-out of the window.

"Go away," he tried to make his voice sound mean, cold, but he knew it was as shaky as her composure. "Get back inside," he didn't want her on this rooftop. He deserved to end it... she still had things to do. He started to take that last step.

"Duo... no... please. Duo, I love you."

He ignored her, but he didn't go any further.

"Duo, you have so much left to live for. Think about it!" Her voice was trembling, as were her steps as she slide closer out on the steep slant of the roof.

"Do you love me?" Her voice was so soft, pleading.

He tried to ignore her.

"Do you love me?" She demanded, her voice rising.

"Always," he said at last. "That's why I'm going to set you free. You deserve better."

"NO!" Her voice had lost some of it's tremble in her volume. "I deserve whatever I want... and I want you. Here, with me. At our wedding. In our house. With our children. I want you. All of you. I love every bit of you. Laughing and crying, sad or strong, happy or tormented. I love you. Isn't that enough for you to want to live? Life's not as hopeless as it seems. Aren't I enough for you?"

"Always," he said again. Maybe he was going about this wrong. Maybe she was right. She loved him... he didn't want to hurt her. She did love him still... there was hope after all. And his death would hurt her. And he hated to hurt her, though he seemed to do it so often lately. He started to turn around to face her.

But his balance was precarious, right on the edge. And the wind had been growing stronger.


	5. Our Somedays

**'This is all we got now,**

**Scream until your heart stops.**

**Never gonna regret...**

**Watchin' every sunset...**

**Listen to your heartbeat...**

**All the love that we felt...'**

**Rooftops, Lost Prophets**

_Chapter Five_

_Our Somedays_

Cara screamed when she saw his slip. His arms flailed for a moment before he went over the edge. She threw herself forward, no thought for herself. She loved this man... and she... would...not....lose....him.

Ever.

"Duo?!?!" she cried, grabbing his hand. His momentum jerked her forward, and for a split moment, she knew... she knew... that three lives were about to end.

But no. Holding onto his hand for dear life, she was drug across the hot roof on her stomach. She winced with worry, pain, but she stopped at the edge, hanging on like a mad person. Only a moment, and Duo was beside her on the roof. That moment had been all he needed. They were both alive and well. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tight before kissing him passionately.

Long, long minutes later, they were inside. Trowa, Catherine, Quatre, Wufei, Dorothy, and Sally Chang were there, all ashen and visibly shaken, but releived.

"Duo?" Cara asked sweetly.

"Hmm?" he muttered against her mouth. He'd never let her go, never stopped kissing her. And she couldn't say anyting, she was clinging to him just as tightly. She would never let him go again. And she would make him talk to her if she had to pound it out of him.

"If you ever, I mean ever, even think of trying a stunt like that again? Don't."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, oblivious to everyone else. "I love you. I love you so much. And I'm so sorry."

"We'll talk about this later. But now, I've got something else to tell you."

"Hmm?"

"Remember our somedays? You said you wanted me to be your wife, you said you wanted to be the father of my children."

"I did. I do. Oh, Cara, I'm so sorry. I don't know how you can love someone like me, but I love you so much."

"Good... because our somedays are coming sooner than you think. Tomorrow I'll become your wife... and in December, you're going to become a daddy."

"Hmm? What?"

"I'm pregnant, Duo. You're going to be a father."

Cara was staring into Duo's violet eyes, but she didn't know who took the news harder. Duo or Quatre. Both were paled with the news.

"Cara? You... you're sure?"

"I'm the one who's sure," Sally piped up. "I am, after all, a doctor. And so is she, if you didn't remember. In fact... she's the pediatricitan!"

Duo's face was one of wonder as he gently touched Cara's stomach, his and slipping under the rough and slightly torn fabric of her shirt.

"I'm going to be a father," he whispered so softly.

"But first," she said, touching her lips to his gently, "You're going to be a husband."


End file.
